Beautiful Beast When Will You Love?
by SlytherinGreenIsMyThing
Summary: Draco Malfoy was incapable of love. When a curse was placed upon him, he had until the end of the year to find not just any love, but true love. But who could ever love a beast? Dramione, slightly AU
1. Prologue

_Hi! I'm so excited about starting this fanfic. It's not the first one I've written, but it is the first I've published. First off, I am aware that there are other fanfics with this basic plot line, but I really wanted to try this out for myself. So I'll try to keep it as different as possible._

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. But neither do you. So don't get nit picky!**

Chapter One: Prologue

It was September, on the first night of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were there for their seventh year, along with most of the other students in their grade, aside from a few like Vincent Crabbe, who died in the war, and the Patil twins, who decided to start their careers in the wizarding world early. Hermione was overjoyed about coming back to Hogwarts after the war, especially because she made Head Girl. The only downside was that Draco Malfoy unfortunately made Head Boy, meaning they had to share a dorm and common room.

Draco was already making "good" use of his private room. With a groan, he emptied himself into the girl who was shrieking and writhing in pleasure beneath him. He rolled over and sprawled out on the bed. "You can go now." he said, sleep threatening to overpower him. The girl did not budge, but instead, latched upon his arm. "Now Draco darling, I don't really think you want me to do that," she cooed, "The night is cold, and soon your bed will be too. And you wouldn't want me wandering around the chilly halls well after curfew."

"I don't give a damn about my bed or the night!" Draco snapped, "And I don't give a damn about curfew, and I certainly don't give a damn about you. If you're not out in ten seconds-"

But the girl was already up, scrambling for her clothes and sniffing back tears. "I'm leaving, I'm leaving." she muttered under her breath, fighting the pangs of humiliation, "I didn't realize you were such a..... such a..... a beast! I never should have come."

Draco heard her whispered accusations, but chose to ignore them. He secretly prided himself on his icy-cruel interior, knowing that it kept away liars and fortune hunter-girls, like this one here most likely was. No one ever slept with him because he was Draco; no, Draco was much too cruel. The girls of Hogwarts wanted to sleep with him because he was Draco _Malfoy, _heir to the incredible Malfoy fortune.

"I'm really leaving now." a voice said from the doorway, interrupting Draco's thoughts. The girl was desperately trying a last-ditch attempt, to get him to want her to stay. "Good for you," Draco replied, turning over and pulling the sheets up on the bed, "Don't trip over the step at the door."

The girl huffed and stalked out, slamming his door so hard that _Head Boy_ plate on the front rattled violently. Draco smirked to himself. _Finally, I can have some real sleep!_, he thought. But the peace did not last long. As sleep was slowly overtaking him, Draco heard something. "Draco, Draco!" a voice was calling.

"Go away," he groaned, "It's not even close to dawn and I'm in no mood-"

"Draco!" the voice said sharply, "Look at me!"

With a groan, Draco rolled over and sat up. Rubbing his eyes, he came face to face with...._ Dumbledore?_

"But, you're dead!" Draco gasped, "I saw you die! How did you...?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled just a little. "I _am_ dead." he said, "I am, in fact, a ghost. And now I'm here to talk to you. This _is_ a good time?"

Draco, too shocked to say anything and too scared to say no to a ghost, nodded.

"Good!" said Dumbledore with a clap of his hands. "Now, to get directly to the point of my visit. I've head from different sources that you have found yourself incapable of love. Is that correct?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know..... sir." he said, unsure of how to address a ghost, "I- I love my mother, I suppose."

Dumbledore frowned. "That's it?" he asked skeptically, "The only person in the world you love is your mother?"

"Most people are pricks," Draco said defensively, "Or liars or money-grubbers."

With a sigh, Dumbledore looked sadly upon Draco. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I believe it is for the best, Mr. Malfoy. You have until the end of the school year to find love, and be loved in return."

"That's not going to be hard." Draco said cockily, locking his hands behind his head, "No girl can resist my charm and good looks."

"You're going to have to stick with the charm," Dumbledore said with pity, "From now on, you are cursed. Unless you find love, true love that is pure and selfless, you will stay this way forever."

"What way?" Draco demanded, suddenly seriously concerned, "What are you talking about?"

But Dumbledore ignored his question, and instead, handed him a small mirror. "Have you heard of the Mirror of Erised?" he asked. When Draco nodded and took it, he continued, "This is like it. It shows what you truly desire. Be careful with it, and don't let it get into the wrong hands. Remember, until the end of the school year." With that, Dumbledore vanished.

Draco blinked, and was then overcome by a sudden pain, like his blood was boiling and his skin was in ice. He screamed and screamed, until at last the pain stopped as suddenly as it began, and Draco fell back to his bed, unconscious to the world around him.


	2. The Pain

_A/N: Hi! Okay, so don't expect all my updates to be this quick. I'll try to be prompt, but I doubt I'll ever be this quick again. But anyway, thanks to all who reviewed, favorited and alerted this story!_

_And in case you were wondering, the title for this chapter comes from the line in "Princess Bride" when Wesley is telling Humperdink about "The Pain" and he says "Every cry of every babe, every shriek of every woman crying 'Good God, what is that thing?'...."_

**Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine. Sorry....**

Chapter Two: The Pain

Draco woke up with a pounding head. He slowly sat up and habitually reached to push his hair out of his eyes, when he realized that there was no hair in his eyes. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened that night, and he practically flew to the mirror above his dresser. With a shout, he recoiled away from it, disgusted by what he saw. It took him a moment to regain his composure enough to study the mirror once more.

Staring back at him was the most horrific-looking person Draco had seen in his entire life. Gone was the silky, platinum blonde hair, replaced with a handful of thick, stringy, dirty-blonde strands that barely covered part of his head. Half of his face was coated in a greenish, scale-like, leathery skin, that started at the side of his head, and went down to his neck, and the rest of his skin had taken an even paler hue than normal.

Shocked, Draco ran a hand down the rough side of his face, wincing at the feel of it. His eyes, thank Merlin, where still gray, but Draco didn't feel particularly grateful for this, in light of the fact that he looked so dreadful everywhere else. He sank to the ground, not wanting to look into the mirror any longer. With a hiccup, Draco fought back tears. _Malfoys never cry_ his father's voice rang in his head. Of course, his father never had this sort of curse upon him...

He was shaken from his musings by his stomach growling. _What do I do now?_ He wondered, _I can't go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Unless..._

Draco jumped up from the ground and grabbed his wand off his dresser top, determined to perform a simple glamour charm that would save his reputation. But after saying the incantation multiple times, he realized that it was not going to work. With a groan, he flung his wand on the floor and stomped to his closet.

He debated putting on his school robes; he wasn't planning on attending class until he was back to his normal, handsome and incredibly charming self. At length, he decided to wear them anyway. Once dressed, Draco cracked open his door, checking to see if the coast was clear. He exited his room, resolved to speak to the headmistress immediately. She _had_ to know what to do.

He slipped into the common room, praying that Granger had left ages ago. They weren't exactly "enemies" anymore; he didn't call her mudblood and she didn't call him ferret, but he didn't want to deal with the questions that would soon follow her sight of him.

Fortunately for him, fate seemed to be on his side, as there was no sign of the bookworm anywhere. He shuffled past the couch and was about to exit through the portrait hole, when he heard voices outside in the corridor.

"I can't Ginny," the voice said. _Granger,_ thought Draco, _Great._ "I really have to study for-"

"Some essay that's months from now," interrupted Ginny, "Right? Let me just get my book from your room and I'll be out of your way."

Draco turned and rushed back through the common room, trying to get hidden before the girls saw him. The portrait swung open and in walked Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley, just as Draco reached the stairs.

"Stop right there!" cried Hermione, drawing her wand. Draco froze. "I don't know who you are, but I won't hesitate to hex you into next week if you don't tell me who you are and what you're doing here right now."

"Gr-Granger," Draco stuttered, "Just put your wand down and let me be." All he wanted right now was to hide away in his room forever.

Hermione snorted. "Not likely," she said, "Now get down here."

"Not going to happen Granger," Draco retorted, beginning to get snippy, "I highly doubt you want me to be down there."

"Look," Hermione said, shifting from one foot to the other, "You've got until the count of three to be down here before I-"

"You don't want to see me!" Draco shouted, "Okay? So forget it!"

Ginny spoke up. "If you don't get your filthyarse out of here whoever you are I swear I will not be responsible for what my friend or myself do!" she growled.

Draco snapped. Whirling around, he stalked down the stairs. "Is this what you wanted?" he snarled, reaching them and standing a few feet in front of the pair. His eyes flashed and the sneer plastered on his face only served to make his features even more grotesque.

Hermione and Ginny looked at him in horror. "Good God, what are you?" Hermione whispered, unconsciously stepping back. She dropped her eyes to the ground at the same time that Ginny let out a shriek and turned to flee. Pulling out his own wand, Draco muttered the spell for a full body bind. Ginny immediately stiffened and fell over.

"Hullo Granger." Draco said testily, "Now that you've gotten an eyeful, will you kindly allow me to leave?"

Hermione paled. "Just- just get out!" she said, clearly frightened. She backed away until she hit the couch.

"It's my dorm too," Draco replied, still angry and slightly hurt that his appearance was so disturbing, "I have every right and more to be in here."

With a gasp, Hermione sat down on the arm of the couch, wand still drawn. "Malfoy?" she asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately yes." Draco replied, "Now that you've temporarily satisfied your undying curiosity, do you mind leaving me to brood in peace?"

Hermione, oblivious to the last part of what he had said, studied him closely. "What happened to you?" she asked in a hushed tone, as if shouting it would do something horrible, "Shouldn't you be in the infirmary?"

"OldPomfrey's not going to be able to do anything about it." Draco said bitterly, "I'm stuck this way, at least for now." He turned to go, then remembered Ginny on the floor. _Do I obliviate her?_ He asked himself. Deciding against it for the time being, he released her from the body bind. The redhead sat up spluttering.

"How dare you! You vile disgusting... oh! Wait till the headmistress hears about this Malfoy!" she exclaimed all the while avoiding eye contact. Draco shrugged and plopped down on a chair next to the fireplace.

Hermione broke out of her trance and hurried to her friend's side to help her up. "You really shouldn't have done that Malfoy." she said, avoiding eye contact with him as well, "Ginny, the book is on my dresser in my room, if you still want to get it."

Ginny shook her head. "You know what?" she said quietly, "I can get it another time. Let's go to class." She tugged on Hermione's arm. "Hermione? Let's go to class."

"I'll meet you later Ginny," Hermione said pulling her arm out of her friend's grip. "I'll see you in class." she said more forcefully when Ginny opened her mouth to protest, "I just need to grab a few things, okay?" When Ginny realized Hermione wasn't taking no for an answer, she sighed. "Okay." she replied at length, "You sure you'll be all right?"

Hermione nodded. "See you in class." she said, gently pushing her towards the door. Just when Ginny had reached the portrait hole, however, Draco drew his wand and whispered, "Obliviate." The spell hit its target and Ginny blinked. "I'll see you in class." she said brightly after a moment. She exited out of the hole and left Hermione and Draco alone.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione asked accusingly, "You're not allowed to be casting memory charms!"

Draco frowned. "I can't have her off blabbing to Saint Potter about Granger's diseased roommate."

"About that," Hermione said, forcing herself to look Draco in the eye, "What was it? Potions accident? Glamour charm gone wrong?" She snorted quietly.

With a growl, Draco jumped up from his chair. "Do you think this is a joke or something?" he demanded, "I've been cursed you idiot!"

Hermione tried not to look as intimidated as she felt. This "new" Malfoy was like something out of a bad Muggle horror film, freakish and scary. "Okay then," she said, "By who?"

Draco sat back down and mumbled something. "What was that?" Hermione asked, "I didn't catch that."

"It was bloody fucking Dumbledore!" shouted Draco, standing up again, "Your precious Dumbledore decided to pay me a visit and curse me with- well, this curse!"

"But, that's not possible," she said, "Dumbledore is dead. You were there."

"His ghost, moron!" he snapped back beginning to pace, "Of course he's dead. His bloody ghost did it!" He turned to face Hermione and she shrunk back from his gaze. Draco sighed miserably. "What am I going to do?" he asked quietly sinking down into his chair and burying his head in his hands, "You can't even look at me can you? This is never going to work."

Hermione suddenly felt guilty for feeling so repulsed. Wasn't she always telling people it's what's on the inside that counts? "What isn't going to work?" she asked, this time making an effort to sound and look as normal as possible.

"Dumbledore's given me a task," Draco said at length, "And if I don't complete it by the end of this school year, I'm stuck like this forever."

"Oh, well it can't be that hard!" Hermione said, perking up, "What is it?"

"Forget it Granger," Draco sighed dejectedly, "It's not going to happen. Not like this."

"Oh come on Malfoy. Just tell me. Maybe I can help."

Draco snorted. "There's nothing you can do." he said bitterly, "But thanks anyway."

"There's got to be something." Hermione persisted, "Spit it out."

"Fine!" Draco growled, "I have to get someone I love to fall in love with me, okay? That's the mission. Do you see why it's so impossible now?"

_Review!_


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